By John Schaffner
Mary Norwood has been informed by the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections that her notice of candidacy for the post of Fulton County Commissioner District 1 had been rejected because it was submitted more than four hours past the noon deadline on July 2.
Norwood’s attorney responded July 7 by urging the Board of Registration and Elections to allow Norwood’s candidacy, citing court rulings in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. In Texas, the Supreme Court ruled against metro Atlantan and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, who tried to keep both Barack Obama and John McCain off the ballot in Texas because they missed the filing deadline.
In a letter to Norwood on July 6, Fulton Elections Board Chairman Roderick Edmond cited parts of Georgia election statutes pointing to the filing deadline as being “no earlier than 9 a.m. on the fourth Monday in the June immediately prior to the election and no later than 12 noon on the Friday following the fourth Monday in June in the case of a general election.”
Records show Norwood filed her Notice of Candidacy and Affidavit Application, along with a check for the filing fee of $1,251.45, on Friday, July 2, at 4:40 p.m. Norwood admits that’s when she made the filing and said the reason for it is “too complicated” to explain. “It is what it is,” she said.
Edmonds wrote in his letter and e-mail to Norwood, “Since your notice of candidacy was filed past the statutory deadline, you have failed to timely notify the Election Superintendent of your candidacy.”